The city clerk claims Mayor Tom Henry is "aggressively retaliating" against her, after parking control officers ticketed his city-issued car for having an expired license plate.

The clerk is alleging Mayor Henry is trying to abuse his power and retaliate against her because she's a woman.

"I've endured being bullied, threatened, intimidated, and retaliated against by the mayor," City Clerk Lana Keesling says.

The Republican says she's seen a dark side of democratic Mayor Tom Henry over the past few weeks.

"He believes he holds all of the power in this building and can retaliate against another elected official and against a woman," she says.

Keesling claims she and the mayor discussed his expired plate in the days before he got the ticket, when she advised him not to drive the car until he got a permanent plate from the BMV.She says the mayor put parking control in a bad situation by continuing to park in front of Citizens Square with the expired plate, so he was ticketed just like anyone else.Keesling says city councilmen, county councilmen, and state reps have all received tickets for various infractions, and they've paid their fines.And she doesn't know of a time when the mayor's retaliated against any city councilmen for disagreeing with him and doing their jobs.

"We obviously have nine male councilmen, and I'm the only female elected official. Would he have done it if I was a male?" she asks.

We asked Republican City Councilman Russ Jehl's opinion about Keesling's allegations, who said he was there to support her.

"I was not surprised when Lana described what was transpiring. Why is that? Why not surprised? Because it's not entirely, I have been disappointed, there have been times where things have devolved into petty discussions before," Jehl says.

Keesling claims the mayor sent multiple emails revoking her parking spaces in the garages adjacent to Citizens Square and underneath it, leaving her the only elected official without one.But she says his treatment of her is the bigger picture.The mayor's spokesman released a statement that called the situation a "disagreement," saying: "We do not see this as an abuse of power situation. Both are committed public servants. Mayor Henry was disappointed by a recent ticket that was issued to a City of Fort Wayne vehicle that's been assigned to him."The statement also said there is a reserved parking spot for the clerk in the garage attached to Citizens Square, a space Keesling had previously given her deputy.Keesling then returned the parking garage door opener she says the mayor requested.Although Keesling is alleging Mayor Henry is creating a hostile work environment, she says she has not pursued any legal action.

Keesling says when her parking officer called the BMV about the expired tags, it had no record of the car being registered.A spokesman for the mayor says the permanent plate arrived shortly after the ticket was issued.